Today, the Constitution of the United States turns 222, which leads to the question:  Is it time for end of life counseling?  Will our Constitution be the first casualty of Obama’s Death Panels?

On this day in 1787, the United States enacted a living document which through the prism of common sense seems relatively clear, and the Founders’ intentions appear well spelled out; yet when looked at through the eyes of the self-interested and corrupt, can be easily manipulated, confused and muddled.  Over the next few weeks (months?) I will be taking a common-sensical look at different parts of our Constitution, and applying them to what is happening in our country today.

In the meantime, enjoy this walk down memory lane.

Tragically, like All In The Family, I’m not sure that little piece of television history would be able to air today.

Betsy Ross lived at Arch Street and Second
And her sewing was very, very fine
General Washington came to see her
To order a brand new flag
Six white stripes and seven pretty red ones
Thirteen stars on a field of blue
It was the first flag our country ever floated
Hooray for the red, white and blue!

How is it that I can still remember that song? Simple, it’s the same way I still remember Yankee Doodle or The Battle Hymn of the Republic. My parents taught them to me, when they taught me about patriotism, and what it means to be an American. I’m not talking about Rah, Rah! run out and join the Marines patriotism (my mom readily admits she was prepared to whisk me away to Canada when the first Gulf War started. What can I say, she’s a registered Democrat who thought the reinstatement of the draft was imminent) , but a sense of pride and gratefulness for where I lived.

Luckily for my parents and for me, my school reinforced their lessons. We pledged our allegiance to the flag, we prayed to God, we learned about the greatness that IS America. We were proud of our republic; all of us, students, parents and teachers. And somehow, it didn’t matter who was in the Oval Office. Somehow the values that we all shared as Americans transcended the office of the President, they were constant and unwavering.

Now it seems those values have been politicized, lobbied for and against. The only thing that remains the same is that it still doesn’t matter who is in the Oval Office.

I know I am remembering my childhood with a certain naivete that goes with the age, but I believe I am remembering those days fairly accurately because I recall experiencing a much too brief rekindling of those ideals. It was September 12, 2001. Do you remember that day?

All of a sudden, politics didn’t matter again. We were just a collection of families, friends, neighbors, Americans. Do you remember how you felt? I do. Sure, there was pain and anger, but I also remember feelings of inspiration, invigoration, and resolve. So why didn’t it last? Probably the same reason those values disappeared in the first place, parents and schools stopped teaching them.

So the next time you’re on a long car trip with your family, sing those silly sounding songs about Betsy Ross, and Uncle Sam, and Yankee Doodle like my family used to. Your country will thank you.

P.S. I am in no way implying that my family was perfect. None of us could carry a tune, and my mother taught us the wrong words to Yankee Doodle.  I suspect my family was alot like yours, I just think our car radio was broken alot.

I also know there are many among you who do instill those values in your children, only to watch your efforts erode with each passing school day. Just keep doing what you’re doing, we’re not standing on a cliff, we are merely at a fork in the road. Hmm, what would Robert Frost do?

In my first post welcoming people to this page, I put in writing my pledge to be as honest and straight-forward as I can be.  It is in that spirit that I feel I must address something I saw on Hannity last night. 

Sean’s guests included Hannah Giles (of the hidden camera ACORN sting videos) and Andrew Breitbart (BigGovernment.com), and while I commend Ms. Giles and James O’Keefe on their patriotism and filling the gaping void left by traditional media outlets, I have to question the timing of the release of their fourth video.

The filmmaker and reporter take their act to California for the fourth video in the series.  That’s where we meet ACORN organizer, Tresa Kaelke, who for some reason admits to these two total strangers that she had killed her husband.  She even acts it out.  Her admission is naturally the ‘atomic bomb’ in this video, yet when Sean asked Giles some basic questions about it, she didn’t have any answers, and that’s where I have a problem.

Immediately after running the video, Sean asked Giles if Kaelke actually had a husband who had been killed.  She could only answer that they were still investigating that, but went on to offer some amateur legal opinions about the organizer’s confession that were (in my opinion) irresponsible.   And if there is indeed a dead husband, was she tried for it and acquitted?  Or did she already serve time for it?  She provided no answers for either of those scenarios either.  If the goal of these videos truly to defend democracy by shining a light on the things that network news allows to stay covered, then the Constitution must also be defended, and that includes something called ‘Double Jeopardy,’ which should be attached, even when trying someone in the media.

The video, especially that part where Kaelke describes killing her abusive husband, is very exciting, and I’m not sure I could have sat on it as long as they did.  That said, this blogger thinks they did themselves a disservice by releasing it prior to completing at least a preliminary investigation.  It is still too easy for archaic institutions like the major TV news outlets to attack the legitimacy of this ‘new media,’ and I think this story, complete with the results of an investigation, would have been even more powerful and airtight.  I will readily admit that I will be checking BigGovernment.com often for the release of Part V from the filmmaking duo who on my list, rank between the Coen brothers and Ismail Merchant and James Ivory (for the record I do count Michael Moore as a filmmaking duo, that’s not what kept him off my list).

P.S.  It also bears mentioning that O’Keefe and Giles obviously entered other ACORN offices where they were no doubt turned away.

P.P.S.  If I am going to count myself among this ‘new media’ there are certain values and principles that I must personally adhere to, and they include calling it as I see it.

Finally, some investigative journalism from our mainstream media! Oh… wait, it was actually an amateur filmmaker and a twenty year old aspiring reporter who risked their personal safety to deliver a blow to an institution that may be more corrupt than our Congress has become. Actually, they may have struck a blow to both. I will say one thing about ACORN, they are definitely inclusive.

On the Baltimore front:

And in the Big Apple:

James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, thank you for your patriotism and service to your country.

Only conservatives could believe they still have the Constitutional right to peacably assemble.